Psalm 46:1-49:20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Psalm 46[a]
God, the Protector of Zion
1 For the leader. A song of the Korahites. According to alamoth.[b]
I
2 God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.(A)
3 [c]Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken
and mountains quake to the depths of the sea,
4 Though its waters rage and foam
and mountains totter at its surging.(B)
Selah
II
5 [d]Streams of the river gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.(C)
6 God is in its midst; it shall not be shaken;
God will help it at break of day.(D)
7 Though nations rage and kingdoms totter,
he utters his voice and the earth melts.(E)
8 [e]The Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Selah
III
9 Come and see the works of the Lord,
who has done fearsome deeds on earth;(F)
10 Who stops wars to the ends of the earth,
breaks the bow, splinters the spear,
and burns the shields with fire;(G)
11 (H)“Be still and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
exalted on the earth.”
12 The Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Selah
Psalm 47[f]
The Ruler of All the Nations
1 For the leader. A psalm of the Korahites.
I
2 All you peoples, clap your hands;
shout to God with joyful cries.(I)
3 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
the great king over all the earth,(J)
4 Who made people subject to us,
nations under our feet,(K)
5 [g]Who chose our heritage for us,
the glory of Jacob, whom he loves.(L)
Selah
II
6 [h]God has gone up with a shout;
the Lord, amid trumpet blasts.(M)
7 Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
III
8 For God is king over all the earth;(N)
sing hymns of praise.
9 God rules over the nations;
God sits upon his holy throne.
10 The princes of the peoples assemble
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God,
highly exalted.(O)
Psalm 48[i]
The Splendor of the Invincible City
1 A psalm of the Korahites.[j] A song.
I
2 Great is the Lord and highly praised
in the city of our God:(P)
His holy mountain,
3 fairest of heights,
the joy of all the earth,(Q)
Mount Zion, the heights of Zaphon,[k](R)
the city of the great king.
II
4 God is in its citadel,
renowned as a stronghold.
5 See! The kings assembled,
together they advanced.
6 [l]When they looked they were astounded;
terrified, they were put to flight!(S)
7 Trembling seized them there,
anguish, like a woman’s labor,(T)
8 As when the east wind wrecks
the ships of Tarshish![m]
III
9 [n]What we had heard we have now seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
In the city of our God,
which God establishes forever.
Selah
10 We ponder, O God, your mercy
within your temple
11 Like your name, O God,
so is your praise to the ends of the earth.(U)
Your right hand is fully victorious.
12 Mount Zion is glad!
The daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!(V)
IV
13 Go about Zion, walk all around it,
note the number of its towers.
14 Consider the ramparts, examine its citadels,
that you may tell future generations:(W)
15 That this is God,
our God for ever and ever.[o]
He will lead us until death.
Psalm 49[p]
Confidence in God Rather than in Riches
1 For the leader. A psalm of the Korahites.[q]
2 Hear this, all you peoples!
Give ear, all who inhabit the world,
3 You of lowly birth or high estate,
rich and poor together.
4 My mouth shall speak words of wisdom,
my heart shall offer insights.(X)
5 I will turn my ear to a riddle,[r]
expound my question on a lyre.
I
6 Why should I fear in evil days,
with the iniquity of my assailants surrounding me,
7 Of those who trust in their wealth
and boast of their abundant riches?(Y)
8 [s]No man can ransom even a brother,
or pay to God his own ransom.(Z)
9 The redemption of his soul is costly;
and he will pass away forever.
10 Will he live on forever, then,
and never see the Pit of Corruption?
11 Indeed, he will see that the wise die,
and the fool will perish together with the senseless,(AA)
and they leave their wealth to others.(AB)
12 Their tombs are their homes forever,
their dwellings through all generations,
“They named countries after themselves”
13 —but man does not abide in splendor.
He is like the beasts—they perish.(AC)
II
14 This is the way of those who trust in themselves,
and the end of those who take pleasure in their own mouth.
Selah
15 Like a herd of sheep they will be put into Sheol,
and Death will shepherd them.
Straight to the grave they descend,
where their form will waste away,
Sheol will be their palace.
16 But God will redeem my life,
will take me[t] from the hand of Sheol.(AD)
Selah
17 Do not fear when a man becomes rich,
when the wealth of his house grows great.
18 At his death he will not take along anything,
his glory will not go down after him.(AE)
19 During his life his soul uttered blessings;
“They will praise you, for you do well for yourself.”
20 But he will join the company of his fathers,
never again to see the light.(AF)
Footnotes
- Psalm 46 A song of confidence in God’s protection of Zion with close parallels to Ps 48. The dominant note in Ps 46 is sounded by the refrain, The Lord of hosts is with us (Ps 46:8, 12). The first strophe (Ps 46:2–4) sings of the security of God’s presence even in utter chaos; the second (Ps 46:5–8), of divine protection of the city from its enemies; the third (Ps 46:9–11), of God’s imposition of imperial peace.
- 46:1 Alamoth: the melody of the Psalm, now lost.
- 46:3–4 Figurative ancient Near Eastern language to describe social and political upheavals.
- 46:5 Jerusalem is not situated on a river. This description derives from mythological descriptions of the divine abode and symbolizes the divine presence as the source of all life (cf. Is 33:21; Ez 47:1–12; Jl 4:18; Zec 14:8; Rev 22:1–2).
- 46:8 The first line of the refrain is similar in structure and meaning to Isaiah’s name for the royal child, Emmanuel, With us is God (Is 7:14; 8:8, 10).
- Psalm 47 A hymn calling on the nations to acknowledge the universal rule of Israel’s God (Ps 47:2–5) who is enthroned as king over Israel and the nations (Ps 47:6–9).
- 47:5 Our heritage…the glory: the land of Israel (cf. Is 58:14), which God has given Israel in an act of sovereignty.
- 47:6 God has gone up: Christian liturgical tradition has applied the verse to the Ascension of Christ.
- Psalm 48 A Zion hymn, praising the holy city as the invincible dwelling place of God. Unconquerable, it is an apt symbol of God who has defeated all enemies. After seven epithets describing the city (Ps 48:2–3), the Psalm describes the victory by the Divine Warrior over hostile kings (Ps 48:4–8). The second half proclaims the dominion of the God of Zion over all the earth (Ps 48:9–12) and invites pilgrims to announce that God is eternally invincible like Zion itself (Ps 48:13–14).
- 48:1 Korahites: see note on Ps 42:1.
- 48:3 The heights of Zaphon: the mountain abode of the Canaanite storm-god Baal in comparable texts. To speak of Zion as if it were Zaphon was to claim for Israel’s God what Canaanites claimed for Baal. Though topographically speaking Zion is only a hill, viewed religiously it towers over other mountains as the home of the supreme God (cf. Ps 68:16–17).
- 48:6 When they looked: the kings are stunned by the sight of Zion, touched by divine splendor. The language is that of holy war, in which the enemy panics and flees at the sight of divine glory.
- 48:8 The ships of Tarshish: large ships, named after the distant land or port of Tarshish, probably ancient Tartessus in southern Spain, although other identifications have been proposed, cf. Is 2:16; 60:9; Jon 1:3.
- 48:9 What we had heard we have now seen: the glorious things that new pilgrims had heard about the holy city—its beauty and awesomeness—they now see with their own eyes. The seeing here contrasts with the seeing of the hostile kings in Ps 48:6.
- 48:15 Our God for ever and ever: Israel’s God is like Zion in being eternal and invincible. The holy city is therefore a kind of “sacrament” of God.
- Psalm 49 The Psalm affirms confidence in God (cf. Ps 23; 27:1–6; 62) in the face of the apparent good fortune of the unjust rich, cf. Ps 37; 73. Reliance on wealth is misplaced (Ps 49:8–10) for it is of no avail in the face of death (Ps 49:18–20). After inviting all to listen to this axiom of faith (Ps 49:2–5), the psalmist depicts the self-delusion of the ungodly (Ps 49:6–13), whose destiny is to die like ignorant beasts (Ps 49:13, 18; cf. Prv 7:21–23). Their wealth should occasion no alarm, for they will come to nought, whereas God will save the just (Ps 49:14–20).
- 49:1 Korahites: see note on Ps 42:1.
- 49:5 Riddle: the psalmist’s personal solution to the perennial biblical problem of the prosperity of the wicked. Question: parallel in meaning to problem; in wisdom literature it means the mysterious way of how the world works.
- 49:8 No man can ransom even a brother: an axiom. For the practice of redemption, cf. Jb 6:21–23. A play on the first Hebrew word of Ps 49:8, 16 relates the two verses.
- 49:16 Will take me: the same Hebrew verb is used of God “taking up” a favored servant: Enoch in Gn 5:24; Elijah in 2 Kgs 2:11–12; the righteous person in Ps 73:24. The verse apparently states the hope that God will rescue the faithful psalmist in the same manner.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.